I met Daniel at a young adult barbecue that we hosted a few months ago and we have become good friends. He's a dedicated member at St. Peter's. I am blessed that God brought him to us.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Hanging with Elvis
Had a great time this past Thursday going to see Daniel Cardona perform as Elvis at a local Italian restaurant named Amore's. Daniel packed the place out. He's an excellent singer and worked the crowd very well. It was a lot of fun.
I met Daniel at a young adult barbecue that we hosted a few months ago and we have become good friends. He's a dedicated member at St. Peter's. I am blessed that God brought him to us.
I met Daniel at a young adult barbecue that we hosted a few months ago and we have become good friends. He's a dedicated member at St. Peter's. I am blessed that God brought him to us.
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9 comments:
as i was reading you stated you grew up pentacostal. plz explain how you now feel regarding the gifts of the spirit. prophsy the word of knowledge, healing buy laying on of hands ,speeking in toungs,or even being slayn in the spirit. do you believe they are real or for today ? do you or did you ever speek in toungs? how dose you church now feel re: these things? i looked for a statment of faith but it was to general. do you believe one must accept christ as there personal savior ? what about once saved always saved plz respond i want to understand?
Yes, I believe that the gifts of the spirit are for today--that we serve a living and active God who works through his people. My church believes this as well.
Concerning personal salvation, I believe what the church has always taught from the time of the apostles until now - that we come into the family of God through baptism and that we must not only accept Christ as personal savior, but also as Lord - and that we must do this continually every day or our lives. This is not a one time practice but a choice we make every day when we choose to live in obedience and trust in him.
I do not believe that once saved always saved is a question that I am called to answer. Who is saved and who is not saved is up to God to decide and so I dare not try to take the place of God. As a student in college and then in seminary I had many conversations about this question--once saved always saved. However, since becoming a pastor my focus is on helping people grow and become more like Jesus Christ that we might glorify him in all that we do.
so the gifts ao the spirit are active in you and your church ???. thanks for answering my questions. my job sometines takes me over near you .maybe i can visit you church sometime. maybe it is what i am looking for. i also agree salvation is a daily decision the scriptures show that in several places but if someone isn,t baptised do you believed they still are saved i know the bible says believers should do this but it don't get you saved ,the desision in you heath to acept jesus as you savior and lord did but you don't believe we have to say a sinners prayer every day do you. also don,t yoy believe it is are job not onlyto glorify him but to witness to the lost. the bible says we are ambasators right?
p.s. do you still feel you are then still pentacostal
Are the gifts of the Spirit active in me and my church? -not as active as I would like. There is always room to grow--especially in my life. I am but a wee babe.
Concerning the question about salvation through baptism: Baptism is the normative way that an individual comes into the family of God. Does baptism save us? No. God saves us. However, God works through material means. This is called sacramentalism. God could have said, "Poof" and all sins could have been forgiven. But instead he came down to this earth and took on matter--that is he took on human flesh and he died a physical death. Did he have to do that? No. He is God. He can do anything he wants. But he chose to become fully human--he chose to bring us salvation through physical matter, through the physical action of dying on the cross. So also with baptism--a physical action using matter (water, in this case - "he saved us . . . through the water of rebirth and renwal by the Holy Spirit" - Titus 3:5). Paul said in Romans that we are baptized into Christ's death so that we might be raised with him in his resurrection. Does this mean that God is limited to salvation through baptism (i.e. thief on the cross)? No. God is not limited, but the normative way of coming into the family of God is through baptism. So, do I believe that someone who isn't baptized is still saved? Jesus clearly said, "Repent and be baptized." Anyone who refuses to do this is living in disobedience to God.
I do repent of my sins on a daily basis if that is what you mean by a sinners prayer.
Yes, we glorify God by witnessing to the lost. I cannot say that I love God unless I am also willing to love his creation--especially those children of his who have turned away from him and who he longs to draw back to himself.
I hope that this is helpful.
Blessings ~ Father Philip
P.S. Am I still Pentecostal? That depends on how you define Pentecostal. Do I speak in tongues? Yes. Do I believe that tongues is the initial physical evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. No. Different people have different gifts. The Spirit gives to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses - as Paul writes in 1 Cor. 12.
another question priests are called father yet the bible states to call no man father because God our father is is in heven no disrespect but i tend to agree and feel uncomfortable with callin people father. hay i am courious what ever happened to the friend you talked about from your childhood do you still see him how did he make out . i also thought the bible says toungs is the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit but not speeking in toung don't mean your not saved.
Calling a priest, "Father" is an ancient practice that stretches back many centuries because he is supposed to be your father in the faith. The verse in which Jesus says, call no man father is Matthew 23:9. Does this mean that every child is disobeying Jesus when he calls dad, "Dad"? Of course not. Jesus didn’t mean for this to be taken literally. He was simply trying to make a point that God is the true and only father of all.
We know this because Jesus himself calls people father in the very same chapter in verses 30 and 32. Also, Paul calls Abraham Father in Romans 4. Paul calls himself father in 1 Cor. 4 and goes on to speak of himself as a spiritual father. Paul of course was a priest and so he was indeed the spiritual father to all of the people in the churches he founded.
In Matthew 23:9 Jesus did not mean that no one should ever use the word father except of God. What he was saying is that no one is God but God! Thus no human person can legitimately take the place of God the Father or usurp his role in our lives. Not a scribe, or a Pharisee—or anyone else. God is the source of all truth. Because of that, he’s our ultimate teacher—although human beings can share in this role, functioning as God’s instruments. (We all know that because we’ve gone to school!) God is the ultimate authority in our lives—our true master (although others can share in his authority and legitimately exercise it in certain situations). And he’s our true Father, in the sense that he is the ultimate source of our existence.
Concerning the evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit, no where does Scripture say absolutely that tongues are the evidence (although we do get some glimpses of this possibility throughout Acts). What the Bible does say is that you will know them by the fruits. It also says that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness and self control. These are much better evidences than tongues. When the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit they went out and turned the world upside down. This is the sort of evidence that I would like to see taking place in the lives of Christians once again. We need to allow the Spirit to move in our lives once again (see my post on this above).
what do you think of the earthquake in haiti is this a judgement of God thats what pat robinson thinks what about how your church feels re: divorce just for certian reasons
The terrible results of the earthquake in Haiti had much more to do with corruption in the building industry than anything else. Other countries have suffered far worse quakes with much less damage. There is much corruption in Haiti, as we know see with so much of our aid money not even getting to the victims.
Sin becomes its own worst punishment. Paul writes about this in Romans 1, in which he describes God allowing people to suffer from the results of their own sins because of their refusal to turn away from the sin.
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